Owners of flats, apartments will have to pay quit rent

Utusan Malaysia 24/3/2003

PENANG March 24 - The Government will amend the National Land Code 1965 and Strata Title Ownership Act 1985 by December this year to make it compulsory for owners of units and premises in multi-storey buildings to pay quit rent.

Deputy Land and Cooperative Development Minister, Dr Tan Kee Kwong said at present the quit rent for units in such buildings was paid by the building management corporation or the project developer.

"The amendments are necessary as many project developers and building management corporations have failed to settle the quit rent and this had delayed the issuance of strata titles," he told reporters after attending a meeting on strata title ownership issues here.

The meeting was attended by the Director-General of Lands and Mines Datuk Ismail Dollah Harun, Director of Strata Title Section Dr Azimuddin Bahari and other officials.

Tan said the proposed amendments would be tabled at the National Land Council meeting chaired by the Acting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, at the end of this year.

Tan said his ministry was getting feedback from the relevant organisations such as the Housebuyers Association and the Architects Association of Malaysia (PAM) on these proposed amendments.

He said the ministry's Legal Adviser was also studying appropriate provisions that would be included in the amendments to both Acts.

He also said that there were developers who had yet to settle survey fees claiming that they did not have enough money when the projects had in fact been completed on the surveyed land and issued with Certificates of Fitness for Occupation (CFO).

He said the amendments to the Strata Title Ownership Act would enable the government to make it compulsory for developers to pay the survey fees before the CFOs were issued.

Tan said the Negeri Sembilan Government was already imposing this condition and it would be implemented peninsula wide after the amendments were approved.